John Trevor Lewis (15 April 1932 – 21 January 2004) was a

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

mathematical physicist Mathematical physics refers to the development of mathematical methods for application to problems in physics. The ''Journal of Mathematical Physics'' defines the field as "the application of mathematics to problems in physics and the developmen ...

who made contributions to areas including quantum measurement,

Bose–Einstein condensation Bose–Einstein may refer to: * Bose–Einstein condensate ** Bose–Einstein condensation (network theory) * Bose–Einstein correlations * Bose–Einstein statistics In quantum statistics, Bose–Einstein statistics (B–E statistics) describe ...

and

large deviations theory In probability theory, the theory of large deviations concerns the asymptotic behaviour of remote tails of sequences of probability distributions. While some basic ideas of the theory can be traced to Laplace, the formalization started with insura ...

. He was a senior professor at the

Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies The Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies (DIAS) ( ga, Institiúid Ard-Léinn Bhaile Átha Cliath) is a statutory independent research institute in Ireland. It was established in 1940 on the initiative of the Taoiseach, Éamon de Valera, in Dub ...

(DIAS) in

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

from 1972, serving as the Director of the School of Theoretical Physics from 1975 until his retirement in 2001.DIAS obituary for John T. Lewis (1932–2004)
/ref> He also founded the Communications Networks Research Institute at

Dublin Institute of Technology Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT, ga, Institiúid Teicneolaíochta Bhaile Átha Cliath) was a major third-level institution in Dublin, Ireland. On 1 January 2019 DIT was dissolved and its functions were transferred to the Technological Un ...

Academic career

Lewis was born in

Swansea Swansea (; cy, Abertawe ) is a coastal city and the second-largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Swansea ( cy, links=no, Dinas a Sir Abertawe). The city is the twenty-fifth largest in ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

and was educated at Cardiff High School and then the

Royal Belfast Academical Institution The Royal Belfast Academical Institution is an independent grammar school in Belfast, Northern Ireland. With the support of Belfast's leading reformers and democrats, it opened its doors in 1814. Until 1849, when it was superseded by what today is ...

. He then studied at

Queen's University Belfast , mottoeng = For so much, what shall we give back? , top_free_label = , top_free = , top_free_label1 = , top_free1 = , top_free_label2 = , top_free2 = , established = , closed = , type = Public research university , parent = ...

, earning BSc in 1952 and PhD in 1955, the latter for a thesis on "Quantal Calculations Relating to Certain Rate Processes" done with

Alexander Dalgarno Alexander Dalgarno FRS (5 January 1928 – 9 April 2015) was a British physicist who was a Phillips Professor of Astronomy at Harvard University. Biography Alexander Dalgarno was born in London in 1928, and spent his childhood there. He was ed ...

and David Bates. He moved to

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

in 1956, initially at Christ Church and later at Brasenose where he acted as Dean. In 1969 he spent a year visiting

Rockefeller University The Rockefeller University is a private biomedical research and graduate-only university in New York City, New York. It focuses primarily on the biological and medical sciences and provides doctoral and postdoctoral education. It is classif ...

and the

Institute for Advanced Study The Institute for Advanced Study (IAS), located in Princeton, New Jersey, in the United States, is an independent center for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry. It has served as the academic home of internationally preeminent scholar ...

. In 1972 he moved to the

on the retirement of John L. Synge, where he served as director of the School of Theoretical Physics. He was an honorary professor at

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

and

Trinity College, Dublin , name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin , motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin) , motto_lang = la , motto_English = It will last i ...

. He was a member of the

Royal Irish Academy The Royal Irish Academy (RIA; ga, Acadamh Ríoga na hÉireann), based in Dublin, is an academic body that promotes study in the sciences, humanities and social sciences. It is Ireland's premier List of Irish learned societies, learned socie ...

and was its Senior Vice-president in 1988. He received one of the first honorary doctorates from

in 1999. In 1971 he helped to found the Irish branch of Pugwash. With D McQuillan and T West he drew up the draft constitution of the

Irish Mathematical Society The Irish Mathematical Society ( ga, Cumann Matamaitice na hÉireann) or IMS is the main professional organisation for mathematicians in Ireland. The society aims to further mathematics and mathematical research in Ireland. Its membership is in ...

after the DIAS Christmas Symposium in 1975.The Irish Mathematical Society page on The MacTutor History of Mathematics archive
/ref> From 1985 to 1987 he was president of the

Irish Federation of University Teachers The Irish Federation of University Teachers (IFUT; ga, Cónaidhm Éireannach na Múinteoirí Ollscoile) is a trade union representing university staff in Ireland. The union originated among a group of teachers at Maynooth College, who met infor ...

. Lewis was also a founder of, and the Chief Scientist at,

Corvil Corvil is a Dublin, Ireland-based network data analytics company that helps businesses make sense of machine data sources and protect performance, security, and transparency of business and infrastructure applications. As of May 2017, prominent f ...

, a company specialising in measurement and performance of Internet traffic.

References

External links

*
Death notice for John Trevor Lewis in London Mathematical Society Newsletter Issue 325History of the DIAS School of Theoretical Physics
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lewis, John T. 1932 births 2004 deaths Irish mathematicians Welsh mathematicians Welsh physicists Irish physicists Alumni of Queen's University Belfast Members of the Royal Irish Academy People associated with Trinity College Dublin People educated at the Royal Belfast Academical Institution People educated at Cardiff High School Probability theorists Academics of the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies